There'll be Peace when you are done Or something
by meri47
Summary: At the STARS Academy in Alto Mare, one team has managed to fail almost every mission they've been given, and show an astounding lack of teamwork. Exasperated, their Headmaster sends them on a make-or-break mission: to investigate the disappearance of four teens eight years ago during a race from Veilstone to Pastoria.
1. Chapter 1

"You are terrible, you know that? Absolutely terrible." Headmaster Lance snapped. "None of the other teams have this problem. But I swear, every year there is one group, ONE, that just cannot get the idea of teamwork!"

Sasha's head snapped up at that, and Nick braced his mind for her latest tirade. "Sir! JP and Addison fought all the time until they started hooking up, and-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Headmaster Lance shouted, "We are here to talk about you, and not them! AND YOU ALL ARE DOING TERRIBLY! So," he said, visibly regaining control of himself, "You are all going on a mission. And by the end of the mission, if you haven't learned to work together, you will be held back a year."

Oooh, Nick thought. Giles is going to flip his lid.

"HELD BACK!" Giles shrieked. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

Hina whimpered. But she did it quietly enough so that Headmaster Lance wouldn't notice and focus his draconian (Ha ha) rage upon her.

"I can and I will." Headmaster Lance snapped. "So get together, or get ready to be the only ones in your grade to be here for an extra year. DISMISSED!"

Well. This had started out like such a nice day, too. I should've known that it couldn't last. And it was so close to lunch that I had a feeling we were going to miss all of the good foods.

. . .

All of us exited Headmaster Lance's office building with our hearts weighed down with ten thousand pounds of hopelessness. We'd been sent on several missions before, and we had managed to flub all of them in some spectacular way. The last one had gotten all of us a lifetime ban from the Safari Zone in Jhoto. And also detention for a week.

When we all reached the courtyard, Giles spun around and planted himself in a stance that clearly telegraphed_ I am completely serious about what I am about to say and nothing you can do will sway me! _"Look," Giles snapped. "I WILL NOT get held back. Not for anything. We can do this; we just have to work _harder_! Especially you, Hardy! Now, let's get our mission dossier and work up a plan of action!"

"What about lunch?" Sasha grumbled.

When Giles turned to glare at her, clearly gearing up for another motivational/manic speech, Sasha caved.

And off we went, forgoing what could have been a lovely lunch in favor of listening to Giles fight with Sasha over what we were going to do, with Hina nearly crying from all of the negative energy, or something.

This academy isn't bad, really. Alto Mare has a pretty good climate, and most of the teachers are good. There's a rumor going around (started by either that idiot Quincey Hayden for a joke or one of the more paranoid types) that the school is funded by the Global Police Agents, and that the whole point of the teams is to try to figure out which ones of us are good enough to tap for recruitment. However, since there was also a rumor (Again, started by Quincey) that Ms. Barlow used to be one of those secret agents before retiring to force Math down the throats of teenagers, so nobody really believed it. The only piece of evidence I know of in favor of the rumor is our Logistics Division. It's in the second sub-basement of the library, run by a guy named Meredith Hickett (And isn't Meredith supposed to be a girl's name?). And poor Meredith Hickett is the stereotype of every nerdy lab worker in existence: skin so pasty you can practically see his veins, hair so greasy and dusty that even Meredith has forgotten what color it used to be, a back hunched at practically a 90 degree angle, and glasses out of the 1970s.

Every student in this school adored him shamelessly, even the people who tried their hardest to pretend otherwise. Meredith was like a baby pokemon you just wanted to hug until he giggled. It also helped that if you were nice to him he would tell you the best and cheapest places to get food while you were on a mission and that his Porygon liked to do funny tricks for anything shiny you had on your person.

But anyway, Meredith was more than happy to give us files and files of our make or break mission. And boy, was it a weird one.

"So," Sasha said, as we all sat an hour later in the library, as we finished up reading the files (They sat, I slouched in a chair and pretended to read, mostly to annoy Giles, who was pretending that it wasn't bothering him to the point of his teeth grinding), "Eight years ago, these kids, Kim Burrel, Douglas Parr, Roxanne Solberg, and-"

"Terrance, Terrance Vinson." Hina supplied.

"Right, yeah. So these four people are in a race from Veilstone to Pastoria, and they go missing. Nobody hears from them for a week, and then out of the blue Burrel and Vinson show up out of nowhere and refuse to say a word about what happened to them or to Douglas or Roxanne."

Giles and Hina nodded, and I gave an affirmative sounding grunt.

"Do you think that they're dead?" Hina whispered, after a few seconds of silence failed to elicit another word. "Roxanne and Doug, I mean."

_That_ made me sit up and pay attention. Murder was nothing to joke about.

Giles was the one to respond. "I don't know. But Vinson and Burrel were our age when this happened…Maybe it was just an accident, a battle that went wrong, or something, and they tried to cover it up?"

"Oh come on, _Fitzroy_!" Sasha snapped. "Don't try to make this into an episode of Law and Order! They were _our age._ None of us are the murdering type. Except maybe Rebecca, when Quincey won't leave her alone."

"Well what do you think happened, Sasha?" Hina asked.

"It's obvious. They both just decided to leave the race and go somewhere else. I might have done it myself."

"Of course_ you_ would have, _Celera_, but by all accounts this Douglas person was intelligent." Giles smarmed at Sasha.

Sasha flushed and stood up aggressively. "Not something you'd know about, Mister second best!"

"Don't fight please-" Hina whimpered.

"STAY OUT OF IT!" Giles and Sasha shouted in perfect synch at poor Hina.

Ms. Barlow chose that moment to swoop down on us with her Toxicroak and Quagsire at her heels. "No shouting in the library, Celera and Fitzroy! All of you get out!"

"But-But Ms Barlow!"

"I SAID ALL, MISS MITARASHI!"

We got out. As we were leaving, I heard her sigh and mutter to her Pokemon. "Typhona, Manny, I swear they misbehave more every year…"

"Croak!"

"Sire-Quag!"

"I most certainly was not 'just as bad'!"

. . .

It was almost two when we were kicked out of the library. The lunch ladies might still have something left, or maybe if I was nice to Étienne he'd whip me up something…

"Right!" Giles ordered. "We have the day off from classes, so go get ready for the mission. We leave tomorrow, at five sharp!"

Giles wanted me to starve to death, clearly.

Sasha, not about to let Giles have a monopoly on ordering people around, chimed in with decrees of her own. "Hina! You're bringing Drake. Giles, you're bringing Ladybird! Nick, take Mora with you this time or I swear I will _beat you up_. I'm bringing Claw, so we should be able to handle any pokemon we come across."

"What about the quintuple ice weakness we'll have, _Celera_?" Giles sniffed.

"Claw and Drake can take on ice types all day long, _Fitzroy_. See you at five sharp, people! And bring Mora or else, Nick!"

We were going to fail this mission so hard it wasn't even funny.

. . .


	2. Chapter 2

Hina worried. It was her thing. She knew it, and she accepted it. She liked to think that in accepting her weakness, she could overcome it to the extent of becoming a relatively well-functioning and valuable member of her team. But then the re were the days-the many, many days, as well as early mornings such as this one - when Sasha and Giles were screaming at eachother (Sasha hadn't yet stooped to insulting Giles' truly horrible bleached hair yet, but Hina could tell her was getting close) and Nick was lazing against the Academy Gate and absently petting his skarmory, Mora, without a care in the world. Nick wouldn't bother himself by stepping in. _Because_, Hina thought, in one of her previously rare fits of pique that now came upon her more and more often since she had bee n assigned to her team, _That would mean that he would have to actually get off his lazy butt and __**do something**__ for a change!_

"I AM NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME TRAMPING AROUND IN A FOREST, CELERA!" Giles screeched, "NOT WHEN THERE IS A PERFECT SOURCE OF INFORMATION AN HOUR AWAY!"

"That's just like you, _Fitzroy_! You never want to get your hands dirty ! Why did you even come here if you weren't willing to _work_?" Sasha snarled. "You're more like Hard y than I thought!"

Giles flushed. "I am willing to work! I just don't see why should have to run around some woods that are a _region away_ when we can get just as much information from the K-Brigade offices that are nearby!"

Sasha puffed herself up. "Because that kind of investigative work is just lazy! 'Any input from outside sources has the potential to alter the perception of the Investigative Agent, causing him or her to reject potential evidence'! Or have you forgotten what happened in Azalea?"

"I can quote too, Celera! 'All effective investigators must have a complete understanding of the terrain and potential hazards before entering an unknown or unsecured area'! Or have _you_ forgotten what happened in Pastoria!"

Mora drew herself up and smacked Nick on the back of his head with her wing. "Alright," he grumbled. "Look," Nick said , "This is too early to fight. Why don't we just split up."

Giles turned on Nick, ready to attempt t o wrangle an actual confrontation with N ick, before deflating abruptly.

"Oh." Sasha muttered.

"Yes, Sasha. _Oh_."

"Then- we'll just, um-"

"Giles can take Hina to the K-Brigade Of fice. I'll go ahead with you to the inci dent site. By the time Hina and Giles are done, you and I will have already gotten a look around, so we'll be able to match what the Brigade tells us with what we see there."

Sasha nodded, a flush visible on her face. "Right-yeah, right. Come on, Nick, if we hurry we can make the 6:45 ferry, that'll get us to Cherrygove."

Sasha took off running south towards the marina, with Nick slouching along behind her, occasionally being chivvied along with a swipe towards his head, courtesy of Mora. Hina sucked in a fortifying breath, and looked at Giles. Giles looked back. After about a minute of waiting for the other to do something, Giles crack ed. "So-shall we go see if the Express i s running yet?"

. . .

The Express, as it was commonly called, was a unique feature of the Academy. It was run by Noland Tremblay, who, according to campus gossip (meaning Quincey) was a former Frontier Brain; before deciding to retire on Alto Mare and start a private piloting business exclusively for Academy missions, with the occasional mentoring of any student whose flying poke mon had problems. The air field was located on almost the other side of the island, which Hina thought to be inefficient , even though the island and the town on it was fairly small, especially when sh e compared it to her home of Saffron Cit y. Mister Tremblay had an exuberant nature and a strong work ethic, but also kept once principle ironclad: Noland Tremblay _did not_ get out of bed before 8:30 for anything short of the apocalypse. His machamp, manectric, and venusaur were very effective in enforcing this policy, much to the displeasure of overachievers and morning people.

Giles was frustrated, and trying desperately to reconcile his emotion with his instinctive desire to revere all authority figures. Since Hina knew Giles well enough to recognize that he was at once restrained and belligerent, she was not surprised that he chose to take his frustrations out in a pokemon battle. Hina did wish, however, that he chose to pick a fight with one of Mister Tremblay's pokemon, rather than her Drake. She also wished that he would leave them alone because Giles, like Sasha, played very hard, very fast, and sulked when he didn't win enough or often.

"Ladybird!" Giles called, "Start off wit h a Dragon Dance, then hit him with Drag on Pulse!"

Hina started, and hastily forced the battle to the front of her thoughts. "Ominous Wind, Drake!"

Ladybird reared back and became covered in a cracking energy field before letting out a challenging trill and breathing out a magenta shockwave towards Drake. Drake took the blast head-on, grunting in pain; then raised his arms behind his back and slammed them forward, summoning a burst of heavy purplish smoke from out of nowhere that was easily dodged by Ladybird. Hina moaned in frustration. "Drake, quick! Use shockwave!". The bolt connected with Ladybird's chest, forcing her to the ground in an undignified sprawl. Hina felt a quick flare of hope that the battle might be over quickly, which was quickly extinguished as Ladybird shook herself off and took to the air again.

Giles let out a triumphant laugh. "Bad move, Hina! Now you've just made her mad at you! Ladybird, get higher in the air and hit them with Draco Meteor!"

Panicking, Hina flailed her arms. _Nononono-Drake!_ "Drake, quick, Destiny Bond!"

"HINA!" Giles howled. "How are we supposed to have a battle when you keep _cheating _and using Destiny Bond! You_ know _we can't afford to have Ladybird faint w hen we're on a mission!"

_Oh, well, I'm sorry that I don't have bloodlust like you and Sasha. I'm sorry that I don't like to see Drake get hurt, w hen you clearly don't have the same issues with Ladybird. I never wanted to fight with Drake; I've only ever wanted to help rescue people. _"I-I'm…I'm sorry, Giles, I guess I just forgot…"

Giles snorted, and recalled Ladybird. "Just-. Just do better, Hina. How can you expect to be better if you don't _fight_ for it?"

_Being __**better**__ doesn't matter to me, Giles. It's only ever mattered to you and Sasha._

. . .

Mister Tremblay let Hina and Giles off o f his plane at the regional K-Brigade just outside of Goldenrod City and about a quarter of a mile from the Brigade Headquarters. "Are you k ids going to be alright here?" He asked, a desperate attempt for a balance between sympathy and studied distance; scratching at the ears of his manectric. "I've heard from Eve-that's Ms. Barlow to you - that your team is hanging on the edge of being held back. Is there anything that I can help you two with?"

_Yes, yes, please help us, I don't want t o leave the Academy, I love what they're trying to teach us there, I love what they're giving me a chance to become. _"...I-"

"We're going to be fine, thanks!" huffed Giles, indignation sticking out everywhere in his posture. "I won't fail, and n either will the rest of my team. We're going to be better than anyone and everyone else, we just have to work out the kinks. And we can do that on our own. Come _on_, Hina. If we hurry, we can catch a K-Brigade member when they're on their lunch break."

Giles grabbed onto her elbow and hauled her away. As she was dragged down the road, Hina heard Mister Tremblay sigh at h is manectric. "Ahh, Josette. There's one group like them every year, isn't there ?"

. . .

When Hina thought of the K-Brigade, she saw tall figures with impressive pokemon , with both pokemon and trainer well-muscled and always, always calm and assured with the belief that they were the most capable people in the room, a nd with their training there was nothing and no-pokemon that could stand in their way. The motto of the K-Brigade said i t all: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici- _By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe_.

Nikki Huang, apparent Junior Agent of the K-Brigade, and her emboar partner, Zola, were everything that she ever imagined. Except for calm. And quiet, which Hina was just hoping for as a matter of personal preference.

"Soooo- you're from the _Academy_, aren't you? Yeah, I bet you are. You've got that look about you. It's one of t hose things that you hear everyone talk about, but you don't really know what it looks like until the very first time yo u see it! Now, it's been a while, but when I went there _Academy_ students were always super-super serious, super-super scared of everything, or super-super bouncy and happy-go-lucky. I was the happy-go-lucky type, as you can see. You two look like…wait wait let me guess!"

Giles and Hina had staked out the bistro nearest to the K-Brigade headquarters t o find a likely looking member that they (meaning Giles, with Hina hanging around looking pitiable for sympathy) could ambush and pump for information about the disappearances. When Giles had honed in on a youngish-looking, bespectacled boy with a Kirlia, Nikki had zoomed over and began throwing questions at them with an aggressiveness that rivaled Sasha at her most nosy. Hina felt as though she had again been hit hard over the head with a blunt object. Giles was sputtering and attempting to regain control of the conversation.

"You, with the bad dye job! _You_ look like the serious type. Nothing has ever gone totally right for you in your life, right? I bet you've got a _bunch_ of neuroses!" While Giles squawked, Nikki turned towards Hina, who flinched back in alarm. "Oooh, that lil'flinch says it all, missy! Super-super scared for the win!"

Hina could see Giles making a visible ef fort to pull himself together. He failed .

"So! This is perfect, just perfect! Max would've been no help to you _at all_. This sort of thing is my specialty!"

Giles made another valiant attempt to re gain a semblance of control. "What are y ou talking about? All we want to know is -"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know! You're taking over the Solberg-Parr case! I was the on e who was next up on the roster to get i t, so I called up one of my old teachers - Mister St. Germaine, he teaches art? H e has that smeargle, Michelangelo?- and he talked to Ms Barlow, and she talked t o Noland, and he talked to Headmaster Lance-is he still hot, by the way?- and so then I knew that Team CFHM was the one to get it!" Nikki stopped to take a breath, and continued speaking in a serious voice that was a startlingly different from her previous bouncy tone. "And this case is really important to me. So I know why you got this assignment, but I don't care. I'll tell you all about it, as long as you let me come with you to investigate."


End file.
